Extremely well stated. I couldn't agree with Stephen more. Greg MacPherson has an excellent track record of getting things done. I look forward to his service as Attorney General and potentially for other offices.

I have great respect for Mr. Kafoury’s service to Oregon, however, he mischaracterizes the reason many of us are not supporting Macpherson in the primary. At the same time, he conflates private conversations and admiration, with public positions. Macpherson may have private plans for the state, but he has never presented a meaningful plan for what he will do as Attorney General.

Few to none of Kroger supporters discount Macpherson’s commitment to the Democratic Party, and nobody is claiming he is a Zell Miller. The knock on Macpherson is that the campaign has acted as if it is Macpherson’s “turn” to be Attorney General. This is evident by the lack of meaningful policies presented by the campaign. When Macpherson talks about his plans for the environment or crime, he talks about things he did in the legislature. While this is fine to a degree – he should be proud of his work – it is not actually a plan, it is a resume. In private, Macpherson may in fact be brimming with ideas, but he does not share that with the voting public. Regular voters, as opposed to insiders with access, are therefore left with no evidence that Macpherson is running for any reason beyond his desire to be Attorney General.

Measure 11 is a perfect example of this. In the past you, and other Macpherson supporters, have talked about Macpherson’s desire to change Measure 11. However, Macpherson has never said this. He has said he has misgivings about Measure 11 but he has never presented a plan to change it. Furthermore, as Chair of the Judiciary Committee he has done nothing to indicate that he would instigate changes in mandatory sentencing. If Macpherson wants to change Measure 11, he should have the courage to say what he wants to do (I for one, support changing Measure 11, even though I support Kroger). It is similar to Macpherson’s behavior regarding the death penalty. On that issue, he claims he is opposed to capital punishment, but would not change Oregon’s law and has made no moves as a legislator to change the law. To claim to support changes in his heart, but to not support changes in fact is not a meaningful distinction. Because Macpherson does not support changes in law in public (I am not an insider and do not know what he says in private), he is in fact a supporter of both Measure 11 and the death penalty.

The Attorney General’s Office is not a gold watch for services rendered. It has enormous influence on the everyday lives or Oregonians and is to important to be used as a reward for “waiting your turn.” Oregon is facing a real crisis in such issues as the environment and drug treatment and the next Attorney General will have to be instrumental in addressing this problems. It is not enough to ask for voters to trust that Macpherson has a social policy, he must present these policies to the public, or we are left to conclude that he has no policy.

P.S. The comment about DA’s vs. the OLCV is an unfair comparison of Apples and Cadillacs. The correct comparison would be Kroger’s endorsement from the Sierra Club and Macpherson’s endorsement from the OLCV.

I support Kroger because of his plans for Oregon's future while I have witnessed Greg only talking about Oregon's past. The endorsement comparison was disingenuous. John received the endorsement of the Sierra Club for his plans to tackle Oregon's environmental problems, and Greg received the endorsement from OCLV for his past efforts. John has also received the endorsements of Unions, including the SEIU, and from DAs across the state.

I also don't think Greg should be commended for his work on Pers, considering his efforts were to cut the benefits of state workers, and resulted in years of litigation and the overturning of a large portion of his attempted reforms.

John Kroger was one of the first state-wide candidates to oppose Liquefied Natural Gas Terminals in Oregon, while Macpherson has not taken a position. Check out the story, http://www.forestgrovenewstimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=120183789039561700 In addition, Stoel Rives, Greg's firm, represents attempting to build LNG terminals along the Columbia River.Again you can check out their webpage.
http://www.stoel.com/files/brochure/5473_NaturalGasBrochure.pdf Lastly, I have not heard Greg take a position on Measure 11. When I saw him speak and what I have read from him, he supports the wishes of Oregonians when it comes to Measure 11 and the Death Penalty. I don't fully agree with John's position on either issue, but I respect him for stating a well reasoned opinion, as opposed to dodging the issue.

Stephen,

I guess my response has to be a bit sarcastic, since I assume your whole post was. Let's see:

It’s easy to make promises about all the good things you will do. I am looking for a candidate that produces evidence that his professed priorities display themselves in activism.

How'd Greg do in 2006 when PGE was stealing money from Oregonians? Oh, that's right, he voted to let PGE keep the money. Either his "liberal" values are different from mine, or he's more concerned about making Stoel Rives and Enron happy. Which do you think it is?

By contrast, not only did Greg carry the major role of passing Ballot Measure 49, but also he worked to get it passed by raising money for the campaign and taking his weekends off to knock on doors. On his website, he has a whole paragraph listing his civic activities.

Um, if you read that page on the website, Greg's civic activities are pretty sparse outside of his role in the legislature. He coached little league and plays the bagpipes. (But then again, Kroger's only been "working and playing.") Are his committee memberships really that impressive, either?

Greg has also demonstrated a virtue rare in today's politicians: courage. By taking on PERS reform, Greg knew he would incur the wrath of the public employee unions, and he's paying for it now.

Yep, when your "liberal" values are different from the values of liberals, you do generally pay for it.

Progressives need also to look at the differences between Kroger's support for Kevin Mannix's Measure 11, and Macpherson's willingness to reform it.

Did you read Macpherson's website? He doesn't want to eliminate Measure 11 (which I think most liberals, myself included, prefer). He wants to "reduce" the minimum sentence but only for assault crimes. Is that really the liberal change this state is looking for?

Finally, As an avowed liberal, I'll take Macpherson's endorsement from the Oregon League of Conservation Voters ...

Are we really supposed to take this seriously? You admit upfront that you're on the League's board, so of course you take your own endorsement more seriously! What must be disappointing to Macpherson's camp, though, is that your League is really the only organization outside Greg's friends in the legislature to endorse the guy.

I guess I'll listen to the Sierra Club, Veterans in Action, eQualityGiving, SEIU, Carpenters Union, Oregon Small Business for Responsible Leadership, and 19 sheriffs and district attorneys.

I agree with the comments of Steve Mauer, who stated that the headline was a “touch disingenuous” for the reasons stated. In addition, Stephen’s comment on a Blue Oregon Post on Measure 11 back in December, lends further support to the contention that his meeting with John Kroger was little more than a courtesy interview.

http://www.blueoregon.com/2007/12/oregon-ag-candi.html

"However, I think that Kroger actually wants to be AG, while Macpherson has his eye on the Governor's office and hopes to use this statewide race to raise his profile for 2010. Just a theory on my part."

This is such a frustrating thing to hear. From everything I have heard from Greg and those who know him best, you are the first person to mention him eying the Governor's office. Please don't start these kinds of rumors without any founded basis. From hearing Greg talk, I believe he wants this seat, not to mention he gave up his safe seat as a Representative to run.

As for this problem with Kroger, it has been through the political circles that he has his eyes set on the US Senate...I feel that there is much more to back this up considering that Kroger has planned fundraisers in DC and New York. For me, this makes me question his real commitment to Oregon as a state if he's putting that much time an energy outside it....

As an avowed liberal, I'll take Macpherson's endorsement from the Oregon League of Conservation Voters, which scrutinized his entire environmental record in the legislature, over Kroger's endorsement from law enforcement officials, in helping determine my vote for Attorney General.

Uh, wait, didn't you have a hand in deciding the OLCV endorsement? If so, this paragraph strikes me as particularly silly.

Kari- It perhaps is literally accurate but the headline is very much misleading. The headline implies that an undecided Oregon voter sat down to talk with John Kroger and then after carefully weighing the facts, decided to support Greg. In reality, a long time supporter of Greg who planned on voting for Greg in the primary, sat down with John with his mind made up, and left the meeting still planning on voting for Greg. The headline shows the bias of its writer and your response to criticism also demonstrates your own bias in the election. I don't fault you for your choice in candidates but please aknowledge that you do favor and support Greg in the AG Democratic primary.

“Sunnyside,” I have to commend slipping in an attack on Kroger, but you are wrong on both accounts. Kroger has never indicated he wants to run for anything but AG. If you go into some older posts, Kari even has a comment about Kroger turning down running for the Senate. However, at one time Macpherson was eyeing other offices. I was at a talk with Macpherson in ’06, and at that time he was thinking about offices other then AG. That said, I believe him when he says he wants to be Attorney General – my concern is that that Macpherson has not presented a reason for why he wants to be Attorney General.

Evan, I do not mean this sarcastically, but do you have evidence that Macpherson actually supports changing Measure 11? I have read his public statement and I watched the video of the debate, and I have not heard Macpherson say anything about actually changing the law. Similarly, Macpherson has been chair of the House committee that has the power to reform mandatory minimums and he has not taken any action on the issue. If Macpherson has been saying otherwise in private, I, as a voter who supports reforms, would like to know.

I support Macpherson. But I would still like to know his position on LNG. Does anyone know?

Kroger is against the LNG, but Macpherson has not taken a position on the issue.

Kafoury is a member of the OLCV board and therefore was party to the endorsement process. For him to then effectively say that his vote will in part be determined by OLCV's endorsement, an endorsement that he helped shape, is patently ridiculous.

Next, will Kafoury say in other forums that he supports Macpherson because a prominent environmentalist supported Macpherson in a guest editorial on Blue Oregon?

Look, I support Macpherson and gave money to him. But this editorial just seems phony and stupid.

This Kafoury editorial appears to be of the hit-and-run variety. The editorialist spouts off then vanishes and doesn't bother to respond to comments. Or even read them? Maybe he had a PR flak write this and shop it around to various progressive sites?

Hello, hello, is this thing on? Mr. Kafoury you have comments. (Perhaps he and his brother are busy starting things up for Ralph in Portland?)

Progressives need also to look at the differences between Kroger's support for Kevin Mannix's Measure 11, and Macpherson's willingness to reform it.

Can someone please link me to Macpherson's Measure 11 reform legislation? Surely it must be out there, and I assume he's been pushing it hard every term in the legislature, right?

Although Stephen Kafoury doesn't seem to realize it, the AG doesn't have the power to do anything on Measure 11 except speak out against it; a state representative actually has the power to change it (or at least refer changes to the voters). So if that's Macpherson's platform, one has to ask why he's running for AG in the first place?

According to my communication with the Kroger campaign, Kroger doesn't enthusiastically support every word of Measure 11. He supports severe terms for violent crimes but has serious concerns about juveniles being charged under Measure 11 (if I got that wrong, I'm sure someone from the campaign will correct me).

I know and like both men and am undecided, but it seems a gross exageration to say Kroger supports M. 11 the way Mannix does.

LT, I do not speak for the campaign, but you more or less described what Kroger has been say for some time, going back to before he started running for AG.

I really would like to know if Macpherson has been talking about changing Measure 11 in private. He has made no public statements about changing the law, and he made no effort to do so as Chair of the Judiciary Committee. Yet, Mr. Kafoury has now twice claimed that Macpherson wants to change it

"made no effort to do so as Chair of the Judiciary Committee."

In fairness to Macpherson, you do realize what an uphill battle any Democrat would have on Judiciary with the 31 majority after the years of minority, and lobbying by Crime Victims United and others, don't you?

Wasn't there a ballot measure or something which made changing M. 11 more difficult?

There is a saying "politics is the art of the possible" and there are politicians who "choose their battles".

But it would seem a good idea for the Macpherson campaign to say if they agree with Kroger on this one, how Greg would propose to change M. 11, etc.